Indian Auto Market Continues to be Weak in May

By
Motortrend India Staff
|
04 June,2013

The auto market in India has been sluggish for a while now. And it continued the downtrend even in the month of May, 2013. Maruti, the best selling auto maker in India reported 5th straight down month. Maruti Suzuki’s largest overseas unit sold 14% lower vehicles from last year to 84,677 units. On the other hand Hyundai, South Korea unit, sales were up by 2.1% to 56,856 units, the increase is mostly due to export overseas.

The overall poor economic growth has also hammered hard the Indian rupee with 11-month low valuation against the US dollar (1 Dollar = Rs. 56.50). This in result increased the import bills for auto makers like Maruti, Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen, which import auto parts to built vehicles in India or import completely built vehicles.

Auto makers have tried to increase vehicle sales by offering attractive discounts on all models. This initiative has helped Renault to receive higher growth rate by selling 6,300 units, as compared to 482 units sold last year. GM India has also reported 40% rise in sales due to its Chevrolet Sail (hatchback & sedan versions) and Chevrolet Enjoy. On the other hand, Toyota India sales were down by 35% and Maruti India sales were down by 13%, in comparison to last year sales volumes. Ford Motor recorded a 22% declined in sales figure and TVS Motor sales went down by 6.2%.

Overall the Indian auto market looked grim and it is expected to revive by the 2nd half of this year.

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